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This quarterly publication supplies up-to-date information about the tools and services developed by the NOAA Coastal Services Center for the nation’s coastal resource managers. Download Current Issue - Fall 2008 (PDF)New Products and ServicesCenter's Products and Services Catalog Now Out. The 2008 Products and Services Catalog includes up-to-date descriptions of the Center's complete offerings, which have been developed to aid the nation's coastal resource managers. These products and services include coastal decision-support tools, data, technical assistance, training, publications, fellowships, and much more. In addition, the catalog lists the various Center-assisted projects and partnerships taking place in each U.S. coastal region and state. Center Unveils Digital Coast Website. The Digital Coast, a new way to deliver coastal data, tools, and information, is now on-line. Phase two, scheduled for release in early 2009, will include additional partner data and information. Current Digital Coast partners include the Association of State Floodplain Managers, Coastal States Organization, National Association of Counties, National States Geographic Information Council, and The Nature Conservancy. Website for Shoreline Data and Information Goes Live. The NOAA Shoreline Website, a comprehensive guide to national shoreline data and terms, marks the first time that vector shoreline data from NOAA and other federal agencies can be conveniently accessed and compared on one site. Supporting context is also included via frequently asked questions, shoreline terms and references, and commonly noted uses of shoreline data. Partners in development include the Center, National Geodetic Survey, Office of Coast Survey, Special Projects Office, and Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management. Federal-State Partnership Provides Topographic Data for Coastal Oregon. Through a partnership between the Center and the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI), extremely high-resolution coastal lidar data have been collected and made available to the public. Initial data sets cover the Portland area, and subsequent yearly data collections will occur in the coastal region. These data sets are collected through the Oregon Lidar Consortium. Cultural Assessment to Benefit Ecosystem-Based Management Efforts. The Center partnered with the Waterfronts Florida Program and the nongovernmental organization 1000 Friends of Florida to undertake a cultural assessment of Carrabelle, Florida. Project partners documented cultural and historical sites and practices related to fishing and timber harvesting and identified cultural factors that influence community support for coastal conservation. In addition, participants of a roundtable workshop shared project results and addressed ways that the information could foster an ecosystem-based approach to decision-making. Land Cover Change Data Are Provided to the Research Reserves. Through its Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP), the Center provided nationally standardized land cover change data to the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Land cover change data currently cover 25 of the 27 reserve sites and will enable the reserves to conduct the first systemwide analysis of land changes. Data for Jobos Bay Reserve in Puerto Rico and Kachemak Bay Reserve in Alaska are forthcoming and will complete the data set for the entire system. Website Aids Those Affected by Hurricane Gustav. When faced with the public's need for weather, preparation, and recovery information for Hurricane Gustav, a partnership of federal and regional representatives quickly developed a comprehensive website. Partners included all five Gulf Coast states and numerous federal agencies, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Resilience Team, Gulf of Mexico Coastal Storms Program, and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium. Center personnel helped to collect relevant resources and links, and the NOAA Gulf Regional Team solicited contributions from all line offices. The website, which received 4,350 hits between August 26 and September 2, is being maintained and updated to assist Gulf Coast residents as new storms threaten the region. Impervious Surface Data for Guam Now Available On-Line. Detailed impervious surface mapping data developed by NOAA's Coastal Services Center and Pacific Services Center will help Guam coastal officials understand the linkages between impervious surfaces and water quality. The data, based on high-resolution satellite imagery and made available through the Center's Coastal Change Analysis Program, also serve as a baseline to compare future measurements and evaluate regional changes. Center Staff Members Create Coastal Photo Gallery. Center personnel are sharing their coastal experiences through photography. The Center has assembled a physical and virtual gallery of photos from diverse coastal regions and cultures around the world. Photographs will be rotated regularly as the gallery grows, and digital copies are available at the gallery's website and will be shared with the NOAA Photo Library. National and International Participants Receive Geospatial Training. The Center recently presented five geospatial technology training courses to more than 50 students from research reserves in Florida and North Carolina, several NOAA line offices, and the Republic of Korea's National Oceanographic Research Institute. Resource management professionals use geospatial technology to address real-world coastal issues such as population growth, threatened habitats, climate change impacts, shoreline erosion, and coastal storms. Updated Products and ServicesMaui Height Modernization Effort Enhances Geospatial Accuracy. NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS), Pacific Services Center, and Educational Partnership Program are working with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to enhance the accuracy of spatial information by increasing the density of Maui's vertical geodetic control network. The network is composed of benchmarks-such as small bronze plates anchored in the ground-that have known geographic coordinates. In addition to meeting the programmatic goals of NGS' Height Modernization Program, this project supports the USGS Pacific Islands Water Science Center in its efforts to monitor water levels in Maui's aquifers. HAB Forecasting System Incorporates Health and Optical Data. The Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Forecasting System is incorporating new data sources for the Gulf of Mexico region, including near real-time optical data and reports of respiratory irritation and death in fish. This information will enhance the system's detection and predictive capabilities and will help users improve their understanding of HAB impacts. This project is a collaborative effort among NOAA's Coastal Services Center, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, and CoastWatch. New Lidar Data Available for Large Portions of Florida. Lidar data are now available for several sizeable portions of Florida. Lidar data collected in cooperation with the Northwest Florida Water Management District cover Okaloosa County as well as portions of the following counties: Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson, Jefferson, Walton, and Washington. The Center is also providing nearly full coverage of coastal counties from the Mississippi-Louisiana border to Cape San Blas, Florida. These data will be used to help create Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance rate maps. Future Products and InitiativesNOAA Tackling Inundation Issues in Massachusetts and Maine. Extratropical storms-also known as "nor'easters"-pose a significant inundation threat to coastal regions in the Northeast. Visualization tools to identify areas at risk of flooding are being developed for pilot locations in Scituate, Massachusetts, and Saco, Maine. Center staff members are part of the NOAA North Atlantic Regional Team, which has partnered with the National Weather Service to create inundation layers and Google applications illustrating potential flood inundation for real-time, forecast, hindcast, and scenario-based water levels. Center NewsEvents Hundreds Attend Sustainable Communities Conference. More than 200 participants from 16 states attended the first quality growth conference in the Southeast region, "Building Sustainable Communities in the 21st Century," in Charleston, South Carolina. The Center worked with the Southeast Watershed Forum and other partners to focus the agenda on building greener communities, designing resilient communities, preparing for climate change, and saving habitat, farmland, and community character. Several Center tools were demonstrated, including CanVis, the Habitat Priority Planner, the Nonpoint Source Pollution and Erosion Comparison Tool, and the Hazards Assessment Tool. Workshops Give Technical Capacity Boost to Pacific Islands. To increase the technical capacity of the islands while keeping costs low, workshops were provided by the NOAA Pacific Services Center to the coastal management communities of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The workshops were used to demonstrate how remote sensing data could be used to address high-priority issues such as habitat conservation, watershed management, and hazard resilience. Related decision-support tools from the Center were also highlighted. West Coast Governors Announce Ocean Health Plan. The governors of California, Oregon, and Washington launched a landmark action plan for the West Coast Governors' Agreement on Ocean Health in partnership with the federal agency co-leads from NOAA, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The plan commits the three states to collaborate closely with federal agencies-as well as ocean users, academic institutions, the public, and other regional entities-on actions to improve ocean protection. NOAA and other federal partners are providing the states with scientific expertise and other types of support. Humboldt Bay Stakeholders Explore Culture and History. Stakeholders from throughout northern California's Humboldt Bay watershed convened to identify concerns and informational needs and to gather cultural and historical information that can benefit ecosystem-based management efforts. Participants of this workshop sponsored by the Center included representatives of local governments, Native American tribes, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector. The workshop proceedings will be made available before the close of 2008. NOAA's "Science on a Sphere" Users Meet in Hawaii. Nationwide representatives from science centers, universities, and museums that use NOAA's Science on a Sphere (SOS) and Magic Planet gathered for the second annual national users meeting. The meeting, sponsored by NOAA's Office of Education and supported by NOAA's Pacific Services Center, allowed current and future SOS institutions to discuss technical and educational aspects of using spherical display systems as a means to engage audiences in understanding the Earth's processes. Published Reports Proceedings of Tidal Hydrology Restoration Workshop Now Available.Restoring natural tidal flow via barrier removal often benefits large spans of habitat. NOAA's Coastal Services Center and Restoration Center published proceedings from a workshop that highlighted information and lessons learned on tidal hydrology restoration in the Southeast region. The proceedings, along with other published literature and expert input, are providing the basis for a guidance manual. Center Articles Are Reprinted in Hazards Newsletter.The article "Firing Up Your Geospatial Technology Skills" from the June/July 2008 issue of Coastal Connections was recently reprinted in the August 2008 issue of TsuInfo Alert, a bimonthly publication prepared by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources on behalf of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. The publication also included the article "Simplifying Coastal Digital Elevation Models" from the May/June 2008 issue of Coastal Services. Coastal Services is a bimonthly trade journal for coastal resource managers, and Coastal Connections is a bimonthly newsletter that outlines useful tools and methods. Plaudits Prestigious Awards Presented for Mapping Work. Fugro EarthData and Photo Science, the Center's geospatial services contractors and project partners, received two of the top five awards for 2008 at the Management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS) summer meeting. MAPPS gave its 2008 Grand Award to Fugro EarthData for seagrass habitat mapping work in southern Texas. The association also honored Photo Science for its work on the Center's Legislative Atlas, an Internet-based tool that depicts the spatial extent of coastal and ocean legislation. Both projects support the Center's Digital Coast initiative. NOAA Publication Wins Two Awards. The Center's Coastal Services magazine won two 2008 Magnum Opus awards for the best cover (climate change edition) and best news story (offshore wind energy). Coastal Services is a trade publication for the nation's coastal resource managers. More than 800 entries were submitted this year to the Magnum Opus Awards, a program sponsored by the Missouri School of Journalism that sets the quality bar for custom publications. Training ScheduleTraining for your organization can take place at the Center in Charleston, South Carolina, or can be brought to your facility.* For more information, visit http://www.csc.noaa.gov/training/. Coastal Community Planning and Development GIS Tools for Strategic Conservation Planning Project Design and Evaluation Public Issues and Conflict Management *Trainings are generally arranged through local coastal management hosts. Contact Info: To subscribe to the Products and Services Bulletin, e-mail csc.bulletin@noaa.gov. For additional information about this publication, contact Kitty Fahey or call (843) 740-1252. Note: All issues are in PDF form. Viewing Portable
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